And when you came in sight, dear, my heart grew light ...

Photography: Marina Cano.
Music: Bei Mir Bist Du Scheen - Quadro Nuevo (Mocca Flor).

"Bei Mir Bistu Shein" (Yiddish: בײַ מיר ביסטו שיין, "To Me You're Beautiful") is a popular Yiddish song composed by Jacob Jacobs (lyricist) and Sholom Secunda (composer) for a 1932 Yiddish musical, I Would If I Could (in Yiddish, Men Ken Lebn Nor Men Lost Nisht, "you could live, but they won't let you"), that closed after one season. Secunda sold the publishing rights to the song for a mere US$30.
The original Yiddish version of the song (in C minor) is really a dialogue between two lovers who share lines of the song.
The song became famous with English lyrics but retaining the Yiddish title, "Bei Mir Bistu Shein". However, it also appeared with the quasi-German title "Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen" (in German: Für mich bist du schön).

'Original' song: (recorded November 24, 1937)
The Andrews Sisters - Bei Mir Bist du Schoen

for all the boys I've known, and I've known some
Until I first met you I was lonesome
And when you came in sight, dear, my heart grew light
And this old world seemed new to me

You're really swell, I have to admit, you
Deserve expressions that really fit you
And so I've wracked my brain, hoping to explain
All the things that you do to me

Bei mir bist du schoen, please let me explain
Bei mir bist du schoen means you're grand
Bei mir bist du schoen, again I'll explain
It means you're the fairest in the land

I could say bella, bella, even say wunderbar
Each language only helps me tell you how grand you are
I've tried to explain, bei mir bist du schoen
So kiss me, and say you understand

Bei mir bist du schoen
You've heard it all before, but let me try to explain
Bei mir bist du schoen means that you're grand
Bei mir bist du schoen
Is such an old refrain, and yet I should explain
It means I am begging for your hand

I could say bella, bella, even say wunderbar
Each language only helps me tell you how grand you are

I could say bella, bella, even say wunderbar
Each language only helps be tell you how grand you are
I've tried to explain, bei mir bist du schoen
So kiss me, and say that you will understand